England’s health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has ordered an inquiry into the care of babies at an NHS trust after a BBC investigation highlighted several avoidable deaths.

Information obtained by the BBC shows that there have been at least seven avoidable deaths of babies at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust since 2013, with at least two more suspicious deaths.

In a statement a Department of Health spokesman said, “Earlier this year, the health secretary asked NHS regulators to undertake an investigation at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust in light of disclosures that in a number of tragic cases standards of care fell far below …